Alonso wins crown but Schumacher exits in style

Fernando Alonso became only the eighth driver in the 56-year history of the formula one world championship to win consecutive titles yesterday when he drove his Renault R26 home to second place in the Brazilian grand prix, thwarting the efforts of his arch-rival, Michael Schumacher, who needed to win the race without Alonso scoring a single point.

The race ended with a convincing victory for Schumacher's team-mate Felipe Massa, but the seven-times world champion was the undisputed star of the final race of his career, recovering from an early puncture which dropped him to 17th place and then climbing back to a brilliant fourth at the chequered flag. Alonso admitted it had been an honour racing against Schumacher. "It has been very close and I think it is good to fight with him," said Alonso. "I always said that to become champion when Michael is still on track gives it more value.

"I was extremely lucky to win the world championship when he [was racing]. I think we all wish him the best for his new life with his family. It has been a pleasure for us to race with him."

Renault's team principal, Flavio Briatore, also paid tribute to Schumacher following his remarkable drive here. "I think we have to show great respect for Michael Schumacher, because what he's done today will go down in the history of formula one," Briatore told RAI television. "He was flying. I don't know what he had but he was literally flying. We've won a difficult championship against an extremely difficult rival in Ferrari, so congratulations to them too."

In the course of his recovery Schumacher pulled brilliant overtaking manoeuvres on Giancarlo Fisichella's Renault (for fifth place) and Kimi Raikkonen's McLaren (for fourth), forcing both his rivals to go too deep, under-braking for the tight left-hander after the pits, and overtaking them as they slid wide helplessly off the racing line.

Jenson Button finished an excellent third for Honda, just 0.7sec behind Alonso, who clinched his second championship with 134 points to Schumacher's 119. The result also clinched Renault the constructors' championship on 206 points, five ahead of Ferrari.

Button climbed through from 13th on the grid after suffering traction control problems, but he drove with great speed and consistency to claim his place on the podium. "After starting so far down it is a great result for me and a perfect end to the year and probably one of the most enjoyable races I've had," he said. "It wasn't just done through the pit stops, it was with some hard fighting. We could not have challenged Felipe but second was definitely possible. Obviously Fernando was controlling the pace and I could not do anything about it."

Button also congratulated both Alonso for taking his second title and the Brazilian Massa, who scored his second formula one success. "For these two it is a very special day, with Felipe winning his home grand prix and Fernando winning the championship, so a massive well done for them," he said.